AbstractThis paper reviews currently available methods to calculate drag coefficients of spacecraft traveling in low Earth orbits (LEO). Aerodynamic analysis of satellites is necessary to predict the drag force perturbation to their orbital trajectory, which for LEO orbits is the second in magnitude after the gravitational disturbance due to the Earth's oblateness. Historically, accurate determination of the spacecraft drag coefficient (CD) was rarely required. This fact was justified by the low fidelity of upper atmospheric models together with the lack of experimental validation of the theory. Therefore, the calculation effort was a priori not justified. However, advances on the field, such as new atmospheric models of improved precision, have allowed for a better characterization of the drag force. They have also addressed the importance of using physically consistent drag coefficients when performing aerodynamic calculations to improve analysis and validate theories. We review the most common approaches to predict these coefficients.

AbstractAircraft structures are being redesigned to use fiber-reinforced composites mainly due to their high specific stiffness and strength. One of the main drawbacks from changing from electrically conductive metals to insulating or semi-conducting composites is the higher vulnerability of the aircraft to lightning strike damage. The current protection approach consists of bonding a metal mesh to the surface of the composite structure, but this weight increase negatively impact the fuel efficiency. This review paper presents an overview of the lightning strike problematic, the regulations, the lightning damage to composite, the current protection solutions and other material or technology alternatives. Advanced materials such as polymer-based nanocomposites and carbon nanotube buckypapers are promising candidates for lightweight lightning strike protection technology.

AbstractThere is great interest in small aircraft known as Micro Air Vehicles and mini Unmanned Air Vehicles due to the wide range of possible applications. This article reviews recent work that aims to exploit the flexibility of the wing structure in order to increase lift and thrust, and delay stall. Wing flexibility has often been considered to be unwanted for large conventional aircraft and measures are taken to limit the deformation. In contrast, very small aircraft flying at low speeds are not necessarily subject to the same limitation. This approach is only applicable to small aircraft because the frequencies of the wing structure and fluid flow instabilities are close to each other. Consequently, small amplitude and high-frequency motions will be considered.

AbstractThis paper contains a three-dimensional study on the influence of different turbulence models for external supersonic flow field simulations, aiming at reaching the best accuracy in rocket aerodynamics. A well-studied test case -a slender body- has been used for the validation process, which involves the major turbulence models available. The SST k–ω model has been selected as the most suitable one for this kind of flows. Good agreements between numerical, theoretical and experimental results are obtained, which are used to set up some guidelines regarding the configuration of Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) supersonic models for these flight regimes.